KUWAIT: Assistant Foreign Minister for International Organizations Ambassador Nasser Al-Hain (left) and Kuwait’s UN Resident Coordinator Zineb Touimi- Benjelloun are seen during the ceremony. — KUNA

KUWAIT: Kuwait is ready to occupy its non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council (UNSC) in January for two years, said Assistant Foreign Minister for International Organizations Ambassador Nasser Al-Hain. A UN team has been dispatched to follow up Kuwait's preparations for activating the country's role within the UNSC, Hain, added after participating in a ceremony marking the UN Day, as Representative of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. He stressed Kuwait's "important and pivotal" role amid the challenges in the region, referring to priorities "we are willing through which to develop final solutions to all these dilemmas," besides cooperating with fellow member states to conclude joint visions that could help achieve global peace.

According to Hain, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled considered that Kuwait would preside over a conference for the Rohingya Muslims, called for by the international organization. Kuwait has been the first to launch campaigns on the Rohingya plight, he said. Kuwait is hosting three major conferences over the coming period, the first on the sufferings of the Palestinian children - November 12 - and the two others in 2018 on education in Somalia, and reconstruction in Iraq, the last upon a generous initiative from His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Ambassador Hain pointed out Kuwait's keenness on achieving comprehensive development through a national vision for having a "New Kuwait" by 2035, through bases that would turn the country into a leading regional hub.

Sustainable development

Meanwhile, Kuwait's UN Resident Coordinator Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun referred to His Highness the Amir's speech at the UN Sustainable Development Summit 2015, in which he reiterated commitment to partnership for humanitarian work. His Highness the Amir also vowed Kuwait's adoption of all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Over the past two years, Kuwait has taken tangible steps in the implementation of the goals, she said.

Kuwait's General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning Development (SCPD), in cooperation with the UN team in the country, held several technical workshops and panel discussions on the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and how they are connected to the Kuwaiti development plans. Benjelloun congratulated Kuwait on the UNSC seat.

The SCPD has long partnership with the UN, the agency's Secretary General Khalid Al-Mahdi, referring to 17 joint projects with Kuwaiti institutions covering various areas. In addition, the SCPD is planning to submit a voluntary report to the UN in April 2018, on Kuwait's efforts to implement the SDGs, he said. - KUNA